Removable panels and tiles have been used extensively for years, particularly in office and industrial environments. They are most commonly used in ceiling applications. However, it is not unusual to find them being used as wall coverings or partitions. The panels are typically very light due to their high porosity. Unfortunately their, lightness and the ease with which they may be removed makes them particularly vulnerable to damage, wear and discoloration, such discoloration typically resulting from water damage and/or marks caused by workmen removing the panels. Until the invention disclosed in co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 707,908, it was standard practice to replace the damaged or discolored panels with new panels. It was difficult to wash the panels and prior to my invention it was extremely difficult to repair them without leaving noticeable evidence of the repair. Moreover, simply replacing the panels with new panels was not generally acceptable from an aesthetic standpoint since most new panels rarely match the old panels. One replacing such panels often discovers that the pattern or style of the old panels is no longer available or if it is available, one often finds that the old panels have faded too much to make a good match with a new panel possible. Accordingly, where appearance is important, it is often necessary to replace an entire area of panels, not just those which are damaged or discolored. The replacement of such, quite obviously, can be an expensive undertaking, particularly when large areas are involved.
As previously mentioned, the invention disclosed in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 707,908, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,540, addresses the aforementioned problems by providing an on-site method of refinishing worn or discolored building panels. In the method, panels are first removed from their installed location. The panel is then sprayed with an adhesive and covered with a thin sheet of decorative material. Pressure is then applied to the panel, covering, and adhesive, resulting in a neat, secure bond. The refinished panel is then installed in its original location with the new covering exposed.
Other methods of covering panels prior to installation are also noted in the art. An apparatus and method for adhering a plastic covering to an acoustical panel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,203 to Slayter, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,547 to Selbe discloses a method of applying, by heat, a plastic film having decorative qualities to wall panels, form board, roof planks, acoustical and decorative tile, plywood panels and ceiling board. A method of applying adhesive to a wall panel and the like prior to installation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,128 to Hobbs, and in U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,908 to MacKinnon.
Methods and apparatus employing a vacuum to facilitate lamination of sheets together are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,166 to Leonhart discloses a device employing a vacuum for laminating together pieces of sheet material with pressure sensitive adhesives. The sheets to be laminated together are placed on a perforated base, the perforations of which are in fluid communication with a vacuum drawing means. A framed cover of fluid impervious, substantially transparent flexible plastic sheet is lowered over the sheets having been placed on the perforated base. A vacuum then is drawn via the perforations between upper surface of the perforated base and the underside of the cover. This causes the cover to be forced downwardly by ambient air pressure on the sheets placed on the base, thereby activating the pressure sensitive adhesive which bonds the sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,421 to Fujii discloses a method of producing a shaped wall covering material composed of a corrugated cardboard substrate, a porous buffer layer adhered to one side of the substrate and a thermal plastic resin liner coated on the outer surface of the buffer layer. The starting materials are set in a hot press in a piled arrangement with adhesive materials interposed between the layers. The arrangement is then subjected to press shaping between male and female dies with the application of heat. During the press shaping operation, air is sucked from a gap between the piled arrangement and the shaped surface of one die through holes provided in the die. This causes the piled materials to be attracted to the die through which the vacuum is being drawn thereby inhibiting layer separation which results from a tendency of the product to stick to the other die as the dies are separated from one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,773 to Hendricks discloses a painting restoration apparatus employing a vacuum to facilitate the penetration of resin and adhesive through the canvas of an old painting. This serves to prevent the old painting from cracking and enables a new canvas backing to be attached to the old painting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,982 to Jacobson discloses a box-like device in which a vacuum can be drawn wherein an upper surface is pressed against a lower surface to press two elements together that are to be bonded.
U.S Pat. No. 4,382,833 to Coyle, et al. discloses a device wherein a vacuum is used in laminating a film on a solar array substrate.
While the foregoing patents disclose useful methods and apparatus for covering building panels with sheets and laminating sheets together, etc., there is still a need for methods and apparatus capable of resurfacing building panels which are low cost, simple to use, fast and capable of providing a better bond between the new surface and old building panel. It would also be desirable if there were a method and apparatus capable of resurfacing the building panel in a manner that preserves the contour or texture of the old building panel's decorative surface.